Page 199 of Things We Hide from the Light
Tina’s eyes came to me as she sat. She looked startled as if she hadn’t realized I was in the room. “Oh, uh, hi, Lona.”
“It’s Lina,” I said, shooting Nash an I-told-you-so look.
He cleared his throat. “Tina—”
“Look, I didn’t know nothing about him shooting you,” Tina said. “Least, not beforehand. And I laid into him after. He saidhe did it to make his dad start takin’ him seriously. Why people give a shit about their parents’ opinions I’ll never know. Waste of time if you ask me.”
This coming from a woman with two delightful parents who wanted nothing more than for Tina to find happiness…and stop acting like a criminal.
“I appreciate that,” Nash said.
She bobbed her head. “Like I said, I had nothin’ to do with that.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Dunno.”
Nash leaned in and Tina mirrored him. “Do you have any idea where he would go if he needed to hide out but still wanted to stay close?”
“Told her I never met the guy, but whenever he needed a new place, he always called Burner Phone Guy,” Tina said, nodding at me without taking her eyes off Nash. “He’d hook us up with a place to crash or find Dunc a place to stash the cars he was stealing.”
“How would he pay Burner Phone Guy?” Nash asked.
“Cash. He’d put it in one of those media mail boxes from the post office and send it.”
“You’ve been real helpful, Tina,” Nash said, making a few notes on his pad before putting the pen down.
“If you have any questions about that night in the warehouse, ask Waylay. Kid’s got one of those memories like a trap. Don’t ever mention going for ice cream unless you’re serious about takin’ her ’cause it’s all you’ll hear for the next two years of your life if you change your mind.”
And just like that, I was back to not liking Tina.
Nash and I got to our feet.
“We appreciate your time,” Nash said.
Tina looked panicked for a second and then a sly look crossed her face. She slapped Nash’s pen off the table like a cat. “Oops. I dropped your pen.”
Nash went pale and looked at me for assistance.
“You’re closer,” I said.
I barely managed to choke back a laugh when he crouched down, keeping his rear end far away from Tina.
“You have yourself a good day,” he said, pocketing the pen.
“See you, Tina,” I said, then followed Nash as he kept his ass to the wall and skirted toward the door.
We foundNolan and Piper sitting in the sunshine on a strip of grass playing tug-of-war with Piper’s stuffed police dog.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Nolan offered.
Nash reached down to ruffle Piper’s fur. “Hugo’s unidentified henchman might be less of a henchman and more of a property manager or real estate agent. He got paid in dirty cash through the mail.”
“Mail fraud. Nice.”
“I’ll have my researcher narrow down the search of known associates by those with a connection to real estate,” I said.
“Your turn,” Nash said to Nolan.
